The average Australian Jobseeker is aged 32.6 years, lives in a family environment, and is more likely to be male. Of the estimated 875,100 Jobseekers nationally (in May 1995), 52 per cent have attended the highest level of secondary school available, while 34 per cent have post-school qualifications. More than a quarter (28 per cent) are born outside Australia, the majority in a non-English speaking country.

These characteristics are drawn from the Australian Bureau of Statistics' Survey of Employment and Unemployment Patterns, Jobseekers, published today, which provides new insight into the characteristics of Jobseekers and their labour market experiences.

The figures are the first year's results from a new 'longitudinal' survey which is collecting information from the same group of people over three years. The statistics from this survey are different to, and should not be confused with, the Bureau's monthly estimates of employment and unemployment.

Key findings from the first year of the new survey (September 1994 to September 1995) include:

in May 1995 there were 875,100 Jobseekers, of whom 55 percent were male, and 32 per cent were aged between 15 and 24 years;

79 per cent were family members, with more than half of these being a husband or wife;

58 per cent had worked at some time in the year (for an average of 20.9 weeks in total), with 89 per cent of their jobs being in the private sector, 66 per cent being casual, and 32 per cent being as labourers and related workers;

the average time spent looking for work in the 12 months was 37.5 weeks, close to three-quarters of the whole year;

by September 1995, 54 per cent of Jobseekers were looking for work, 32 per cent were working, and 14 per cent were absent from the labour market; and

of Jobseekers who were aged 15 to 24, 37 per cent were working in September 1995 (compared to 23 per cent of those aged 45 to 59).

Details are in Australians' Employment and Unemployment Patterns, Jobseekers(cat. no. 6286.0) which is available from ABS bookshops.

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